1. Fed is not planning to raise rates any time soon

Sept 4, 2020

Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, has on Friday said that the U.S. jobs report for August was "a good one," but noted that with gains likely to slow, the Central Bank is planning to keep its foot on the monetary policy gas pedal for years. He further said that the economy is going to need low-interest rates, which support economic activity, for an extended period of time, and it will be measured in years.

Source: Reuters

2. U.S. debt has reached the highest level

Sept 2, 2020

U.S. debt has reached its highest level, compared to the size of the economy, since World War II, and is projected to exceed further next year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that the federal debt held by the public, is projected to reach, or exceed 100% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of U.S. economic output, in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. This would put the U.S. in the company of a handful of nations, with debt loads that exceed their economies, including Japan, Italy, and Greece.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

3. Australia enters into its first recession in nearly three decades

Sept 2, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has officially pushed Australia into its first recession in nearly three decades. The country's GDP contracted 7% in the second quarter, compared to the prior one, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said on Wednesday. It marks the second straight quarter of declines for Australia — GDP shrank 0.3% in the first quarter — and the largest drop since records began in 1959. It was also worse than the expected 5.9% drop.

Source: CNN Business

4. Eurozone recovery lost momentum in August as economies diverge

Sept 3, 2020

The Eurozone’s rebound from its deepest economic downturn on record, faltered in August. Last quarter, the bloc's economy contracted 12.1%, against a forecast of contraction of 8.1%, as lockdowns led to businesses being shuttered, and citizens staying home. IHS Markit's Final Composite Purchasing Managers' Index sank to 51.9, last month, from July's 54.9. Germany's services PMI fell, French business activity growth also eased, with new orders stagnating. Meanwhile, the services PMI’s for Italy and Spain, both of which rely heavily on tourism, dropped back below the break-even mark, as travel restrictions were put in place by many European countries.

Source: Reuters

5. Germany expects V-shaped economic rebound from coronavirus

Sept 1, 2020

Germany's economy is recovering faster than what was anticipated a few months ago, helped by a mild and short coronavirus lockdown, a large-scale fiscal stimulus, and Berlin's close trade links with China, according to new government forecasts. Unemployment figures delivered positive results. Germany's unemployment rate held steady at 6.4%, with the number of unemployed falling by 9,000. Economists had forecasted a 1k rise. Exports to China increased by 15.4% in June, compared with the same month a year ago.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

6. Fresh measures needed to prop up U.K. economy

Sept 4, 2020

New actions will be needed to support Britain's economy, as it emerges from a temporary sweet spot, caused by massive government financial support, and the lifting of lockdown restrictions, a Bank of England policymaker, Michael Saunders, has said. It is unlikely that the economy's recovery over the next two years would be as strong as the MPC forecast last month. It projected an expansion of 9% in 2021. The Bank would need to provide additional stimulus, to support activity, and keep inflation near 2%

Source: The Guardian

7. U.S. unemployment rate falls to 8.4%, even as hiring slows

Sept 4, 2020

U.S. unemployment dropped sharply in August, from 10.2% to a still-high 8.4%, with about half the 22 million jobs, lost to the coronavirus outbreak recovered so far, the government said on Friday, in one of the last major economic reports, before Election Day. Employers added 1.4 million jobs last month, down from 1.7 million in July, and the fewest since hiring resumed in May. Further, an increasingly large share of Americans reported that their jobs are gone for good, according to the Labour Department report.

Source: Reuters

8. President Xi Jinping pledged to open China's service industries to foreign competitor

Sept 4, 2020

President Xi Jinping pledged to open China's service industries wider to foreign competitors. China's manufacturers are flexible, and efficient global competitors, but its fledgling tourism, finance, healthcare, and other service industries, lag their Western counterparts. Regulatory barriers limit the ability of foreign banks, and other providers, to compete in China, two decades after Beijing joined the World Trade Organization.

Source: Yahoo Money